Frame hanger for children&#39;s clothes



R. PHILLIPS 3,406,882

FRAME HANGER FOR CHILDREN'S CLOTHES Oct. 22, 1968 Filed Sept. 20, 1966 all 77 ATTORNEY5' United States Patent "ice ABSTRACT or THE' DI LOS RE Aframe'like'garment hanger includes an arcuate top barhaving lateral end portions and side portions extending downwardly from each of the lateral portions. A cross bar joins the side portions a certain distance below the top bar. A hook member depends from the cross bar adjacent eachend thereof and forms the first pair. A hook member depends from each end of the cross bar in outwardly- .and downwardly spaced relation to the. first hook member and forms the second pair'of hook members;- A group of spacedapart resilient fingers depend from the central portion of the cross bar.

This invention relates generally to-the class of apparel apparatus and is directed particularly to improvements in garment hangers.

=The garment hanger of the present invention while constructed primarily for supporting or hanging childrens garments is, nevertheless, adapted for supporting" garments for adults for the accomplishment of the same or similar objects desired to be accomplished in suspending or supporting a childs garments. Y Aparticular object of the present invention is to provide a novel hanger structure whereby coordinated garment sets; such as are provided for children, may be attractively hung or suspended in a complete or partial assembly for display or for storage.

A further object of the invention is to provide a garment hanger constructed in a novel manner whereby two garments of a design wherein one would occupy a position within the other when in use, maybe effectively sus pended to show the assembled relationship between the ,two garments or the two pieces. I

' Still another object of the invention is to provide a garment hanger of the character above described, which is constructed in a novel manner which permits the easy and quick removal of one garment, without disturbing the other or second garment, in those sets where one garment would be normally worn within the other.

1 More particularly, the invention has for an object to provide a construction-in a garment hanger wherein means is provided for holding a garment in spread-out position, with additional means for engaging a portion of the hem of the garment for maintaining the garment in the central portion from sagging at the hem.

A still further object of the invention is to provide .an improved hanger for a garment assembly, or set, which may consist of two pieces, one of which is worn within the other, and wherein'the outer piece may have shoulder straps, wherein a means is provided for maintaining the shoulder straps in raised position and in a manner to effectively prevent the same from slipping off of the hanger.

" A still further object is to provide in a garment hanger of the character above described wherein a jacket part or a multiple piece assembly, can be efiectively held or sus pended to show its cooperative relationship with other pieces such as bloomers or the like.

The hanger generally comprises .a frame structure having an arcuate top portion to the central part of which a hook member is fixed for supporting the frame. The

3,406,882 Patented Oct. 22, 1968 outer ends of the arcuate top portion merge into downwardly and inwardly converging side members. The lower ends of the side members join a transversely extending bottom part which has at each end a short outwardly and downwardly curving'shoulder portion." Z

The said bottom part comprises two bars extending transversely of the hanger, one'above the other and in parallel relation. The outer ends of the upper bar join the said'shoulder parts and the lower bar which is'of less length than the upper bar, has an upwardly and outwardly extending portion which connects with an upwardly and outwardly opening hook which in turn joins the underside of the upper bar'. V Outwardly from the hooks, the said shoulder portions extend downwardly and terminate in an upwardly and outwardly extending hook bill. I

Thus, at each' side of the lower'portion of the hanger frame, there are located two hook members, one of which is set inwardlyfrom the other and is disposed at a slightly higher elevation than the other or outer hook member adjacent thereto. Thus, at each side of the hanger there are located at an elevation below the upper transverse bar two upwardly and outwardly opening hooks which are spaced apart in the transverse direction of the hanger. The inner ones of the two hooks cooperate for supporting one garment such as a pair of underpants, of a twopiece set while the outer hooks cooperate as a pair to support another garment, such as another pair of underpants. When the garments are on the hanger each garment is shown and hangs separately on a pair of hooks so that one pair of underpants is not inside of the other. At the lower central part of the hanger there are spaced depending finger-like members arranged to engage the waist portion, or waistband, of a garment hanging from a pair of hooks to support the waistband from sagging. Additional objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification and wherein: FIG. 1 is a view in elevation of one side of the garment frame hanger.

FIG. 2 is a vertical section taken substantially on the line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal section taken substantially on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1 and showing a portion of a waist-band hem of a garment in secured position between the holding fingers.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially On the line 44 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view, on a reduced scale, of the frame hanger illustrating two garment pieces mounted thereon, with portions of the same broken away and illustrating in broken outline a jacket in position upon the hanger.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings wherein like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral 10 designates in FIGS. 1 and 5 the complete one-piece garment hanger frame of the present invention.

As illustrated, the hanger is preferably formed in a single piece. Also, it is preferably formed or molded of a suitable plastic material for lightness and in addition such material lends itself well to a molding operation, thereby making it convenient to form the hanger in a single piece as stated.

The hanger comprises the head bar generally designated 12, which is of substantially arcuate form. This bar in turn comprises the lateral convex or slightly arcuate outwardly and downwardly extending side portions 14 and 16 and the connecting intermediate upstanding portion 18.

,,.The. intermediate portion consists of the short bar. section connected at its opposite ends by the vertical portions 22 with the inner ends of the side portions 14 and 16 as shown.

Rising from the center of the short bar portion 20 is the hook member 24.

The outer ends of the downwardly sloping side portions 14 and 16 of the head bar are joined by the rounded corners 26 with the upper ends of the downwardly converging, slightly inwardly curved leg members 28.

Extending downwardly and outwardly from the lower ends of the leg members are shoulder members or extensions 30. These shoulder members are relatively short and are slightly outwardly bowed and extend in divergent relation downwardly as shown.

The numerals 32 and 34 designate vertically spaced substantially parallel upper and lower cross bars. As shown, the upper cross bar 32 joins the shoulder members 30. The ends of the *bar 32 connect with the shoulder members approximately at the central part thereof between the upper and lower ends of the same. There is thus formed an acute angle between the ends of the cross bar 32 and the upper portions of the shoulder members 30, in which angles are located the reinforcing or stiffening gussets 36.

Extending upwardly from the upper ends of the shoulder members 30, in upwardly converging relation are bracing struts 38. These struts connect at their upper ends with the upper portions of the curved side portions 14 and 16 of the head bar 12. Thus each strut extends across the angle formed between a side portion of the head bar and a leg member 28, thereby forming a substantially triangular opening at each side of the hanger frame.

Lying within the area defined by each of the triangular openings, which are designated 40, is a relatively long arm 42 which is joined at one end with the upper end portion of the adjacent leg member 28 and extends at an angle inwardly and upwardly and terminates relatively closely to the upper end of the adjacent strut 38, in the upturned hook end 42.

It will be seen that the arm 42 at each side of the hanger frame not only extends at an angle upwardly and inwardly from its supporting leg member 28 but it is also slightly convergent with the overlying side portion 14 or 16 thereby forming a substantially closed area 46 in which a garment shoulder strap may be engaged and where it will be held against accidental displacement or escape from the hanger.

Each of the shoulder portions 30 terminates in or joins with the upper end of a downwardly and inwardly inclined outwardly opening hook 48. Each of these hooks has a bill 50 directed upwardly and outwardly as shown.

The lower end portion of each shoulder member 30 forms an obtuse angle with the adjacent end of the cross bar 32. In this angle a reinforcing or stiffening gusset 52 is located.

The lower cross bar 34 is of materially less length than the bar 32 and is disposed at a lower elevation than the lowermost portions of the hooks 48 and at each end it joins an upwardly and outwardly inclined extension 54 which is integral with or forms a part of a smaller hook generally designated 56 which is joined at its top end to the cross bar 32 and also joins the gusset 52 as illustrated.

As is also seen, the hook 56 opens upwardly toward the gusset S2 and has a bill portion 58 which is directed upwardly toward the gusset 52.

The inclined extension 54 at each side of the hanger, is in spaced relation with the back of the adjacent hook 48, thus leaving or forming a narrow passage 60 between the part 54 and the back of the book 48, leading into an open area 62 which communicates with the throat 64 of the adjacent hook 56.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that there are located below the upper cross bar 32, a pair of upwardly and outwardlyopening hook member s,56.. 'Ihese hook members cooperate in the manner hereinafter described to engage the inner side of the waistband of a garment to support the latter.

At a lower elevation than the hook members 56 are the hook members 48, which are located outwardly from the hooks 56 adjacent thereto and these outer hook members 48 form a pair on which to hang the waistband of a garment to suspend the latter. V

Each pair of hooks hangs a garment independently of the other, for various "size garments. Thus a garment of one size may be hung on the pair of hooks 56, and another garment of alarger size may be hung on the pair of hooks 48. Thus the pairs of hooks work separately, or may be used to hang various or different size garments. This means that smaller size garments would be able'to fit in hooks 56 without sagging and larger size garments would be able to fit in hooks 48 without sagging.

Midway between the ends of the cross bar 32 there are located three depending fingers which are in substantially parallel spaced relation.

The middle one of the three depending fingers is designated 66 and the other two are designated 68."

Each of the outer fingers 68 carries at its end and on one side, a button 70 and the other or middle finger carries on the side thereof which is directed oppositely to the buttons 70, a middle button 72.

The two outer fingers 68 are disposed in a common plane extending transversely of the frame, which is offset slight'y from the plane of the middle finger 66. Accordingly the button 70 will stand forwardly with respect to their side of the frame, a sight distance beyond the button 72 at the opposite side of the frame as shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4.

The present improved hanger is of a construction which will permit it to be used for individually supporting any one of three pieces of a garment set or for supporting two pieces or all three pieces at one time in-the assembled relation which they would have while being worn.

The hanger is designed as stated previously for suspending a so-called co-ordinated set of a childs garments. It is not however, intended to be restricted to such use since obviously it may be used for larger garments when formed in a suitable size for such service.

FIG. 3 illustrates the use of the hanger for supporting a three-piece set of clothes. In this figure the numeral 74 designates a childs bloomers, which are shown in full lines, the numeral 76 designating an elastic waistband for the same.

Positioned within the bloomers 74 is a conventional waterproof undergarment which is designated 78 and which has an elastic waistband 80. A portion only of this undergarment is illustrated and, as seen, a portion of each of the garments 74 and 78 is broken away to show the location of the hooks 48 and 56 on which the waistbands 76 and 80 of the two garments are respectively engaged.

While the undergarment 78 has been depicted as being within the outer garment 74, it may be engaged with the hooks 56 to be suspended entirely on the outer side or front side of the outer garment 74 if desired to provide a showing or demonstration at one time of both garments.

When an undergarment, such as the garment 78, is suspended from the inner hooks 56, the waistband, which may be of elastic, is stretched to engage over the points or bills 58 of the inner pair of hooks 56.

The waistband at one side of the garment such as the rear side may then be connected with the upper cross bar 32 by slipping the waistband over the buttons on the ends of the fingers 38 and across the opposte side of the middle finger 66 to overlie the button 72 thereof. Thus the waistband will be woven in and out between the fingers as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 and the buttons of the outer pair of fingers may engage under the hem and will thus prevent the waistband from slipping and hanging down.

The spacing of the portions 54 of the lower cross bar from the adjacent books 48 provides the passageways 60 to facilitate slipping the garment waistband up into position for hooking it over the hook bills 58 as will be readily apparent.

When an outer garment such as the bloomers 74 is to be hung in position the waistband, which usually carries an elastic, would be stretched to facilitate slipping it up over the bills 50 of the hooks 48 so that the garment will thus be held in place either with the inner garment inside of the outer garment or the inner garment may be sus pended in the manner described to hang on the outside of and in front of the outer garment.

Where the outer garment 74 may be a part of a sunsuit and thus have shoulder straps attached thereto such as the straps illustrated and designated 82, these may he slipped over the book ends of the arms 42 to be held in position in the manner illustrated although they would not necessarily be supporting the outer garment if the latter is engaged over the hooks 48 in the manner described. The arms 42 might, however, be employed for suspending the outer garment independently of its engagement with the outer hooks 48 as will be readily apparent.

In the case of displaying a three-piece garment where a jacket or shirt may form a part of the outfit, such a garment, here shown in broken lines and designated 84, may be placed on the hanger with the shoulder portions of the jacket resting upon the side portions 14 and 16 of the head bar, as illustrated.

While the hanger frame may have the various parts thereof made of any desired cross sectional form, the cross sectional form here illustrated is preferred, wherein the parts in the majority of instances would be in the nature of a flat band having on the inner or undersides thereof a centrally positioned rib which would give to the band formation a desirable degree of stiffness or rigidity without adding materially to the weight of the structure.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate particularly the cross sectional formation referred to where the parts are shown as being approximately T-shaped in cross section, the referred to band or strap-like part being indicated at a and forming the head of the T while the reinforcing rib is designated b. This cross sectional configuration may be carried out in the other parts of the structure but it is to be understood that in describing this configuration it is not intended that the structure be limited in any way since obviously the parts may be made of any other desired cross sectional form.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that there is provided by the present invention a novel frame hanger structure having many advantages over conventional forms of garment hangers, particularly in that it facilitates the showing or displaying of several parts of an outfit in the relative positions thereof in which they would be worn or in which they might be worn and also the hanger is so constituted that any one of the parts of an assembly may be readily removed to show the remaining parts or any one of the several parts of an assembly may be applied to the hanger to be displayed by itself.

As this invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, the present embodiment is therefore illustrative and not restrictive, since the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the description preceding them, and all changes that fall within the metes and bounds of the claims or that form their functional as well as conjointly cooperative equivalents, are therefore intended to be embraced by those claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A garment hanger comprising a frame body having an arcuate top bar, said bar having lateral end portions, a. side portion extending downwardly from each of said lateral portions, a cross bar extending between and joined to said side portions at a certain distance below said top bar, a first pair of hook members each depending from said cross bar adjacent to an end of the latter and adapted to be connected to a garment waistband for suspending the garment, a second pair of hook members each' depending from an end of said cross bar adjacent to and spaced outwardly from a first hook member, said second pair of hook members being adapted to be connected to a waistband of a garment for suspending the latter, centrally positioned means carried by said cross bar for engaging and supporting the waistband of a garment suspended from said first pair of hook members, and means carried by said arcuate top bar for suspending the hanger, said hook members of the first pair each depending below said cross bar and extending at an angle inwardly with respect to the longitudinal center line of the hanger and each hook member including a bill portion which is directed upwardly and outwardly with respect to said cen ter line, said hook members of said second pair extending outwardly and downwardly beyond the adjacent hook members of said first pair, said centrally positioned means comprises a group of depending spaced apart resilient fingers adapted to have the first mentioned waistband laced therebetween to be frictionally held thereby from sagging.

2. The invention according to claim 1, wherein each of said side portions comprises an upper member having a lower end and a lower member having an upper end joining said lower end of the adjacent upper member, and each of said lower members forms a shoulder extending laterally downwardly and has the adjacent one of said second pair of hook members suspended from the lower end thereof.

3. The invention according to claim 2, wherein the said upper members of said side portions are disposed in downwardly converging relation.

4. The invention according to claim 1, with an arm member carried by each of said side portions adjacent to the top thereof and extending upwardly and inwardly from the side portion and having a terminal inner end located relatively close to the underside of said top bar.

5. The invention according to claim 4, wherein said terminal end of each of said arms includes an upturned book.

6. The invention according to claim 1, with a second cross bar disposed below the first said cross bar and having ends each connected to a hook member of the first pair.

7. The invention according to claim 1, with a second cross bar disposed below and substantially parallel with the first said cross bar, the said second cross bar having an upwardly and outwardly inclined extension of each of its ends which is joined to the lower end of the adjacent hook member of the first said pair.

8. The invention according to claim 7, wherein each hook member of the first said pair has a bill which is directed upwardly and outwardly with respect to the longitudinal center line of the hanger and the said inclined extension of each end of said second cross bar is in alignment with the said upwardly and outwardly directed bill of the said adjacent hook member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 144,679 5/1946 Bolten. D. 204,176 3/1966 Zuckerman.

2,608,324 8/1952 Currier 223-88 XR 2,634,031 4/1953 Klein 223-88 3,007,616 11/1961 Zuckerman 22389 3,249,270 5/1966 Zuckerman 223-91 PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner. G. H. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner. 

